All Night Diner
by Reader244
Summary: Pressured Oliver "university drop out" Queen meets stressed Felicity "exams soon" Smoak in her regular diner at 2am.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The actual show? Not mine. Way too much responsibility, I just write fiction.**

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The all night diner's clock reads 2am when the bell chimes, jostled by the opening door. Renee watches a young man shake the rain off in the entrance way before taking a seat in one of the booths. Judging by the way his shoulders are hunched and his slumped posture, he's in no hurry. Renee thinks the young man just needs a few strong cups of coffee. It's around finals time, he's probably stressing about university exams.

"You right there son?" The young man lifts his head, straightening up to showcase a broad chest and strong shoulders. Only accentuated by what looked like an expensive shirt, now rain soaked and plastered to a well-defined torso. He looks worn, like a boy who has just been thoroughly picked apart.  
_Renee doesn't know how right she really is._  
His smile in return to her question though, is filled with a well-practiced charm. He politely inquires if they take credit card, holding up his own. It reads Oliver Queen. At Renee's nod he asks for her to fill his mug. That charming smile doesn't quite light up his eyes

Renee is headed back to the kitchen window when a flash of blonde hair running past the wall of windows catches her eye. She welcomes the sight and writes up an order to add to the non-existent line. That of the young woman who makes the bell jingle for a second time as she walks backwards, her hands busy trying to wrangle her umbrella. Its Felicity's usual, both the order and her actions.

Meanwhile Oliver's noticed the arrival. He lifted his head at the bell, bracing to escape whatever bodyguard his father has sent to chase him down and drag him back to the old man meeting. Oliver experienced something akin to someone rubbing sandpaper over his ears in that lounge. Till his father pulled him aside and reminded him that it wouldn't be necessary for him to attend if he wasn't kicked out of yet another school.

Instead he meets the girl's eyes. Clear, sky blue and as bright as the smile she gives him. He wonders if she smiles at every stranger like that. Yet it seems familiar and despite himself he feels the corners of his own mouth twitch upwards in return. At least for a second, before his phone stutters.

He can't quite be bothered to reach for it. His fingers are numb; looking back to his mug he wraps his hands around it. Maybe it'll warm them up. Only in that moment realising how quickly her smile had distracted him from his brooding.

The constant rain has caused several leaks to turn the twelve table diner into four booths. As a result, after the blonde shakes out her umbrella and dumps it into the basket next to the cook's. She sits in the booth parallel to the young man's. She waves to Renee with a smile, its brightness never fades despite the near constant amount of times the young lady shares it.

"Hey 'Lissie how you doing?"  
"Hi Renee," the blonde is a little out of breath, "I'm in full panic mode." She immediately starts taking out laptops and books and stacks of paper as tall as the salt shakers.  
"Straight black coffee then lovely?"  
The older woman knows her too well, Felicity sighs "Please."

While Renee turns on her heel to fetch Felicity's coffee, her absence gives Felicity full view of the handsome guy in the opposite booth. He's soaked to the bone and the square bulge in his shirt pocket is going to give her a panic attack.  
_His poor, poor phone.  
_He looks up just as Renee steps back into place blocking him from view.

Returning with coffee as black as night, Renee fills Felicity's mug. At this point Felicity's taken out yet another stack of papers just as high as the original.  
"You carried all these through the pelting rain that's going on out there right now?"  
Felicity looks up at Renee "Yes, I have a data based exam on Monday, my roommate's throwing a party and going home for the weekend isn't possible even if I had the money and it's not the best 'study environment' anyway." Pausing to take a breath, Felicity picks up her mug and waves it slightly, "There's coffee here, and it's warm and it's quiet."

"**ORDER UP**. Renee! Come get the girl's food! Nice to see you 'Licity!" That's Ian. He's the chef that works the kitchen. On the other side of the diner.  
Felicity gives him a wave, and giggles, turning back to Renee "Well… kind of quiet."  
"Well then, I'm just going to bring over your usual and leave you to…" Renee means to read out a title from the girl's books, but she realises most of them are about a paragraph long she decides against it and just finishes with "…all this." and an all-encompassing sweeping hand gesture.

Felicity chuckles and moves to clear a plate size hole between all notes. Just in time for when Renee returns to set the plate down precisely in the newly created gap to another of Felicity's smile and a thank you. Renee walks away with a 'you're welcome', happy that the girl is being fed, watered and spending the night somewhere safe.

Felicity's food sits untouched for over half an hour, she's kept busy by her studies. He'd been aware off the girl as soon as she'd walked in and sat down in his periphery. She only takes breaks to sip from her mug. She's taking another when his cell rings again. He reaches for it with stiff fingers.

Felicity listens as the man in the next booth sighs like he's giving up and hears him answer the call. "Hello. Dad? Yeah, its Oliver. I can hear you. Can you hear me? Hello? Hello? What the ffff…"  
_That poor, poor phone.  
_When he slams it down on the table she winces. Deciding enough is enough she puts down her mug.

Oliver shakes his head, stupid phone. Then he hears, "Hey, um, you can borrow mine?" For the second time he looks up into her eyes. He wasn't expecting her to have shuffled to the end of her booth. He stops thinking about running and moves towards the end of his booth too, she's almost magnetic. It's that familiar smile again. This time it's a little unsure, but it's open and inviting and a little curious.  
_"Or… I can fix yours?"_

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**"OTP: They met in a diner at 2am."  
****Saw that on tumblr and it wouldn't leave my head. So this is what exorcised it.  
Cheers for getting to the bottom.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show. Fiction is much less pressure.**

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He hadn't seen her again since that night. She'd fixed his phone within an hour. Then she'd gone on to multi-task and both fix his night and study simultaneously. By the time the sky began to brighten, she had him holding flash cards with words that had them both laughing when at his attempts to pronounce them.

When she had glanced at her watch, their time was up. She realised she had class in an hour. She'd gathered up all her notes and rushed out of there with a goodbye and flashed him a smile through the glass. Oliver realised it was a showcase of how bright she was.

He also realised he didn't even have time to think about asking for her number. All he had was a name. Felicity.

Oliver finds himself at that all night diner again. It hasn't changed, they've fixed the leaky roof and added a few more graduates to their wall. Regulars who came and went for some coffee, a sugar hit or a greasy breakfast to temper frat party hangovers. They keep them on the wall, proud of their achievements.

He removed himself from the temptation that was his frat house. Remembering Felicity for the first time in a few months, she had used the diner as her escape and now he was doing the same.

His father's money got him into the school, Oliver hasn't done much to keep himself there. But it's the first year he's spent in one school since he graduated high school, its finals time. One last ditch effort to get a pass wouldn't hurt that much.

Renee faintly remembers him on that first night. Now in jeans, a t shirt and a light jacket he looks different from the miserable young man with the sopping suit. This is the Oliver she's come to recognise. He sometimes comes through for their greasy hangover cure breakfast. This time she's sure study is what brings him here, judging by the fancy laptop and binder he pulls from his backpack.

The night is clear. He takes a seat by a window so he can see the starry sky, purposely allowing himself to be distracted from the various business plans and structure guides that are spread in front of him.

He wasn't wrong about his study being harmless, however it is dead boring. Oliver doesn't think he'll do this again after these finals.

He's resigned to get back to his work when a flash of yellow catches in the corner of his eye. He catches the sight of a foot before his view is wholly blocked by the corner.

In the few second before it takes the person to enter the diner, two thoughts shoot through his mind. "Are they coming in?" quickly followed by "Is it her?"

He'd definitely thought about Felicity a couple of times over the past year. She'd made an impression that night and would randomly pop into his mind every couple of months.

Had she been a senior, did she pass those exams, had she graduated? He remembered her talking about her family, he wondered how her mother was. If Felicity had gotten the chance to see her, like she'd said she wanted to over break?

It looked like he might get a chance to have the few questions he could remember answered, when she walked through the door. Smile first.

She nodded to acknowledge Renee and then she cast her eyes around the diner for a place to sit. She only had a shouldered laptop bag and as she walked past he noticed her hair was sleeker than it had been last time. Her frames had become more square. An image of a true professional with all her serious straight lines. The only thing that eased the image was her outfit, similar to Oliver's, it was her way of beginning to acclimatise to the warming temperatures.

He was surprised when she hadn't seen him and was about to walk straight past his table. Though not as surprised as she was when he called out to her. "Escaping another dorm room party?"

Felicity stopped, shoulders to her ears she turned back to him slowly. He could've sworn her eyes went a shade lighter when he locked onto them. Surprise, delight and an infinite blue is what he saw there.

All he got was a shy "Hi", so he thought he'd take the lead this time. "Did you need a study buddy? Cause I helped someone here once before, I'm very focused."

At first she look genuinely torn, she started "I have this final and its... Oh, what the hell." And she sat down opposite him. "I remember, your dictation skills were outstanding" saying the words with more cheek and less unease. He gave her a chuckle, _those flash cards were actually really hard._

From then on he was the one multitasking. Oliver spent the night trying to keep up to her focus whilst doing everything in his power to make Felicity smile as many times as he could.

He apparently hadn't learned his lesson the first time though because it was déjà vu and Felicity was checking her watch and slipping away.

When he found himself sitting alone again in the booth, he could've sworn he'd been cheated by time.

Oliver had gotten his highest mark all semester, he could remember the structure of a business proposal because Felicity had walked him through it, making up different acronyms to help him remember each step. He could remember the specific nuances to keep an audience interested through a presentation because she had demonstrated it to him, presenting the construction of the chocolate sundaes they had sitting in front of them.

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When the semester resumed the next year, there were no appearances at any of the welcome back parties on campus by Queen scion, Oliver's first visit was to an all night diner at one-thirty in the morning.

Oliver had decided he'd go there every night. If he saw her, he wouldn't make the same mistake a third time. He'd say hello and in the very same breath, ask for her number or if she wanted to go out.

The bell jingled as he walked through the door, Renee welcomed him back from over by the coffee machine. He passed by the wall of graduates on his way to the booth he'd decided on.

A smile so bright it almost gave an extra shine to the glass it was framed behind was what caught his eye. In her cap and gown, blue eyes sparkling another regular had graduated and had been added to the wall. He didn't take another step forward, if anything he backtracked.

Situated right in front of hers, which had been hung int the middle, he had a view of all the other photos too. All the photo shared happiness, some were smirks that boasted pride, other smiles were lopsided with relief. Felicity's shone with excitement and hope.

Renee had seen Oliver standing by the wall and joined him. "She graduated with full honours, top of her class at MIT. Got some fancy job offers from a couple of big companies. Her momma was there too. Lissy did good" she informed him with a warm smile.

Oliver responded in kind and sat down in a booth parallel to her photo on the wall. He had his last greasy breakfast from that diner that morning.

In a week, news broke on the front pages of all the gossip magazines. Oliver Queen had been expelled again, this time from his fourth ivy league school.

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**AN: So this happened. I wasn't sure about a second chapter but here it is, so this is dedicated to the ones that asked for it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing I swear. It's too much responsibility. I just like to write fanfic.**

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Oliver's found a diner just outside QC. He'd been in and out of the skyscraper multiple times, but he'd barely noticed the small 24 hour diner across the road.  
He likes to visit now. She's made it a nostalgic experience for him. He doesn't know if its the waitress' mothering or the cook's yelling or the filling burgers, but something takes him back and he can almost see her walking through the bell-less door. It's why his eyes never leave the entrance way. Even though he knows she's not likely to walk through it.

Fay, the managing waitress gets to know him, the young man in the business suit with the weary look on his face. She does her best to try cheer him up, she is starting to call his order, 'Oliver's usual' or 'Ollie's bringing home the bacon' depending on whether he's dining in or taking away. He only ever dines in alone, using the time sit down and think through his stuff. In a way it is almost like he's talking to her.

He's protective of his diner bubble. He'll go out of his way to take separate lunch breaks from his father. Instead Robert Queen will be hand delivered, still warm, fine dining restaurant food. Simultaneously Oliver is actively guarding his secret diner with restaurant misdirection, as well as getting Robert's hard earned nod of acknowledgement for his seemingly spontaneous efforts.

Laurel on the other hand is becoming an increasing threat to his haven.  
She took Oliver, "Ollie" her high school sweetheart, back because she thought he was growing. No longer jumping from school to school in tank tops and polo shirts. Now Oliver wore shirts and stiff suits while shadowing his father at Queen Consolidated.

Sometimes, if Oliver missed a visit to the diner and couldn't help himself, he'd order Fay's secret dressing chicken salad and a burger meal. _Before_ visiting Laurel for the night, effectively shutting down any chances of a date night at the diner.

More and more recently she'd gone from hinting for Oliver to take her to his well kept secret, to flat out asking where it was so she could try it out fresh. He was running out of excuses. He couldn't exactly tell her that he'd feel like he was betraying the girl he met only twice, if Laurel sat opposite him in that booth. The seat where she used to sit. A place still reserved for the memory of another woman.  
Never mind that Laurel is _actually_ his girlfriend.

A few weeks after being back in Starling, attempting to apply himself to being Robert Queen's shadow, Oliver begins to see her everywhere. He's probably hallucinating. Felicity can't be here.

Yet he thought he saw her smile from across the bustling lobby.

No. She's started her future in some company. She's flying her way up the ranks, impressively. He's sure of it. Felicity would have at least one record breaking "youngest ever to-" attached to her name.

He see's her again. Well... He thinks he does. Behind the wall of suits and drab colours, he could've sworn he saw the top of her blonde head. But it ducks out of view behind some stuffy executive shoulder just as he looks back the second time of his double take.

Not her, he reminds himself.

Except it is. It's so fitting.

Two weeks into his hallucinations he's sitting in the diner. Coffee black as night in front of him accompanying a plate of chocolate pancakes. Comfort food. He's broken it off with Laurel. It's not right, its not fair to Laurel. He's seeing another woman everywhere and he needs time to let the hallucination go.

Except the hallucination of her has just walked out of the QC revolving doors. He can see her through the diner window.  
Don't question his judgement. It's her. He knows it. She staring straight at the diner, he can see it in her face, she's thinking about coming in. He doesn't want her to.  
Not yet.

He's a man with a plan.

Oliver asks for the weekend off. Robert's never seen him so focused in any board meeting before this week. The whole week he's always at attention. Constantly alert to his surroundings. The amount of times Oliver's even stayed back to drill through overtime with him, is a shock. Robert gives Oliver the weekend.

I***I

Oliver sits in the diner across from QC for a week and a half at the end of every day, after his essential road trip. His plan was complete saved for a final crucial step. Then it happens, he hears the newly set up slightly rusty bell tinkles once, then again and again. Three times, as if someone is swinging the diner door deliberately to hear the sound. Then it stops.

When the ringing ends, he looks up from his seat in the booth. She's there, her blue eyes staring up in wonder, she's knows the sound, so does he. It's a familiar welcome. Definitely not a hallucination, though she may think she is, she stops and turns to look around the diner. Her face opens blooming into his favourite smile, that he'd only imagined she'd give him, so many times. It tells him that she's recognised him instantly.

He had fueled up the private jet that weekend. He went back to the diner, where he met her. When the young man Renee knew, showed up in his jeans and t-shirt, she gave him a smile and fulfilled his request. She unhooked the hanging bell from the door and gave it to him, it rang with her good luck.

Seeing a dazzling and beautiful smile, he knows he's responsible for, that is just as bright as the sound of the jingling bell tells him that all his planning and waiting was completely worth it.

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**And a Third too. The last one mind.  
****In my head, the bell was left in the diner, maybe it would signal someone else's soul mate had walked through the door.**


End file.
